Country needs Rafale jets to defend itself from F-16s, Centre tells SC

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday cited the aerial aggression by Pakistan last week to argue in the Supreme Court that the country needed Rafale fighter jets.

Referring to the aerial combat with Pakistan, Attorney General K K Venugopal told the bench that the country needs the Rafale jet to defend itself "from F-16 fighter planes that recently bombed us".



"Without Rafale how can we resist them," he said, adding that two squadrons of Rafale fighter jets are coming to India in flyaway condition and the first one will be in by September.

He also said that although MiG-21 of 1960s performed beautifully against F-16, Rafale fighter jets were needed.



The AG told the bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and including Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, that the Rafale case pertains to defence procurement which cannot be reviewed judicially.

The three-member bench was hearing a batch of petitions seeking a review of its December 14 verdict dismissing all the pleas against the deal procured by India from France.



The government also stated in court that documents related to the Rafale fighter jet deal have been "stolen" from the defence ministry and threatened The Hindu newspaper with the Official Secrets Act for publishing articles based on them.

Those who put documents on the Rafale deal in the public domain are guilty under the Act as also contempt of court, the attorney general said.

While publishing articles based on "stolen" documents amounts to violation of the Official Secrets Act, entailing maximum punishment of up to 14 years, the contempt law attracts six months jail as also a fine of Rs 2,000.

An investigation into the theft is on, the attorney general said on a day the newspaper published another article on the fighter jet deal.